Department of Health Deputy Director-General Twu Shiing-jer (
Addressing a medal presentation ceremony at the Executive Yuan yesterday afternoon, Yu announced that Twu will become the acting director-general on Sunday and that he was not looking for anyone else to take the position permanently.
PHOTO: CHU YU-PIN, TAIPEI TIMES
"He'll be performing the task of the director but without the title," Yu said.
"As Twu will be acting director for a period of time, I'm not looking for any potential candidates for the time being," Yu said.
Twu, who served as the director of the Bureau of Health when Chen Shu-bian (
Yu would not explain why Twu was not being given the title director-general, but said he had looked at other candidates for the position.
"Although I've asked several candidates about the job, some hesitated to leave their current jobs, some lacked political experience and others feel uncomfortable answering to the Legislative Yuan," Yu said.
Lee, who has been suffering from asthma and high blood pressure, received a medal for his outstanding performance as the department's director-general over the seven months since Yu took office in February. Lee has held the position since Chen won the presidential election in 2000.
Yu praised Lee for his guts in pushing for reform, especially in raising the insurance premiums for the national health insurance scheme, which has drawn criticism from the opposition parties and labor groups.
"When it comes to reforms, he doesn't hesitate and totally forgets about his physical problems," Yu said. "The new insurance scheme -- the largest-scale reform of its kind since the launch of the program eight years ago -- wouldn't have been completed without his guts and determination."
In addition to thanking Yu and his co-workers for their support and cooperation, Lee said that he would continue to contribute to society if the government called upon him again.
"Although I'll soon leave my post, I'll continue to make personal contributions as a civilian for the betterment of the country," Lee said.
Lee, who is on leave from the Buddhist Tzu-Chi University in Hualien City, where he served as its president for nearly eight years, will return to the school and resume teaching.
Twu, who also attended yesterday's ceremony, said that he would do his best to continue where his predecessor left off.
"The first thing I'll have to tackle is the outbreak of dengue fever in Kaohsiung County. I'll go down south again as soon as I get the chance," he said.
Also high on the agenda, Twu said, is the new national health insurance scheme, which will go into effect on his first day as acting director-general.
"We'll do our job in accordance with the timetable set down by my predecessor," Twu said.
The Ministry of Education (MOE) is to launch a new program to encourage international students to stay in Taiwan and explore job opportunities here after graduation, Deputy Minister of Education Yeh Ping-cheng (葉丙成) said on Friday. The government would provide full scholarships for international students to further their studies for two years in Taiwan, so those who want to pursue a master’s degree can consider applying for the program, he said. The fields included are science, technology, engineering, mathematics, semiconductors and finance, Yeh added. The program, called “Intense 2+2,” would also assist international students who completed the two years of further studies in
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) departed for Europe on Friday night, with planned stops in Lithuania and Denmark. Tsai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Friday night, but did not speak to reporters before departing. Tsai wrote on social media later that the purpose of the trip was to reaffirm the commitment of Taiwanese to working with democratic allies to promote regional security and stability, upholding freedom and democracy, and defending their homeland. She also expressed hope that through joint efforts, Taiwan and Europe would continue to be partners building up economic resilience on the global stage. The former president was to first
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Monday called for greater cooperation between Taiwan, Lithuania and the EU to counter threats to information security, including attacks on undersea cables and other critical infrastructure. In a speech at Vilnius University in the Lithuanian capital, Tsai highlighted recent incidents in which vital undersea cables — essential for cross-border data transmission — were severed in the Taiwan Strait and the Baltic Sea over the past year. Taiwanese authorities suspect Chinese sabotage in the incidents near Taiwan’s waters, while EU leaders have said Russia is the likely culprit behind similar breaches in the Baltic. “Taiwan and our European
The Taipei District Court sentenced babysitters Liu Tsai-hsuan (劉彩萱) and Liu Jou-lin (劉若琳) to life and 18 years in prison respectively today for causing the death of a one-year-old boy in December 2023. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said that Liu Tsai-hsuan was entrusted with the care of a one-year-old boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), in August 2023 by the Child Welfare League Foundation. From Sept. 1 to Dec. 23 that year, she and her sister Liu Jou-lin allegedly committed acts of abuse against the boy, who was rushed to the hospital with severe injuries on Dec. 24, 2023, but did not
RSS